Paul Ryan ready to lead country to change

Like thousands of other people, I was at the Romney/Ryan Homecoming Rally on Sunday. It may be one of those events like the Ice Bowl that so many more people will claim they were there than actually attended.

My day at the Waukesha Expo Center inspired a guest column for Patch.com who were kind enough to provide press credentials for the event. Here is an excerpt:

At the Waukesha Expo Center, more than 13,000 of Congressman Paul Ryan’s friends, family, fellow Republican office holders, and a host of energized Republicans came to celebrate his being picked as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s running mate in the run to the White House. Just two months ago, Republicans were gathered on the same site to celebrate Governor Scott Walker’s victory in the recall election. Sunday even more Republicans came to cheer the Romney’s pick of Ryan for vice president.

Many more people were stuck in a long traffic jam just to get to the Expo center. Senator Ron Johnson told the crowd he needed a police escort to get there in time to speak. When I arrived at 3:45 p.m., the line of cars stretched from the entrance around the neighboring airport. One television reporter said the line of cars backed all the way to the freeway exit.

Some in the crowd were a little cranky about the accommodations, but most were happy to be there to be a part of history. Congressman Tom Petri stole a line from former Gov. Tommy Thompson, telling the crowd it’s a great day to be a Republican in Wisconsin.

And it is. If Republicans had any doubt, all they had to do was look at the lineup of speakers at Sunday’s rally. It was State Attorney General JB Van Hollen who pointed out it was just 2006 when he was the only Republican elected to statewide office. Now Wisconsin Republicans can point to the stage and see Walker, Senator Ron Johnson, and even Lt Governor Rebecca Kleefisch who received national attention during the recall.